“The Jaguar Men!” shouted Edmond Sweeter as a horde of them attacked. “Quick, before they get my son!” Sweeter tossed the axe in his hand at one of the olive-skinned men dressed in spotted fur coats, splitting that jaguar man’s head open. His aim was perfect. Even before the axe had hit its mark, Sweeter had grabbed another obsidian black arrow out of the quiver he had strapped upon his back. He shot arrow after arrow at the jaguar men, each with perfect aim. Hero was more sure now than ever that this man had a metagene, as did his son.
One of them attacked Hero from behind with a huge hard wood club, which broke from the force against Hero’s impervious skin. Still, the force behind the swing was strong enough to cause him pain. Hero jumped back as his now-unarmed attacker attempted to strike him with his bare fist, then grabbed the man’s fist and used it to swing the man into several other Jaguar Men.
“Don’t mess about with them,” said Sweeter, who stood back-to-back with Hero as the Jaguar Men surrounded them. “Just kill as many as you can—we only need to keep one alive!”
“That’s not the way I operate, sir,” said Hero, striking two Jaguar Men at once with a blow that would have hospitalized a normal human. They each fell back and seemed stunned, but ultimately they rose to fight again. Who and what were these Jaguar Men? They seemed stronger than normal men, but none of them displayed any special metahuman powers other than brute strength, agility, and skin that was strong enough to take powerful blows from his fists but were unable to stop axes or arrows.
“They’re not human!” Sweeter cried. “I understand your reticence against killing people in general, and I share it, but these Jaguar Men are different. They’re not human, I tell you. Don’t hold back!”
The onslaught continued, as Sweeter killed a couple more, while Hero was finally able to knock out a few. Then, as one, the Jaguar Men all stopped their attack and fell back, the strong ones grabbing the unconscious and the dead as they left.
“They’re... they’re leaving?” Hero said.
“Yes,” said Sweeter, “they’re intelligent enough to know when they’ve been beaten. Still, that was the largest number of them yet. If you hadn’t been here, I would’ve been overwhelmed.”
“Edmond!” a woman’s voice cried out from inside. “Edmond!”
Sweeter ran swiftly back into his house. “Penelope! What is it?”
“Ed—Edward!” the nanny screamed. “They’ve taken him!”
“God, no!” cried Sweeter. “How?”
Penelope was shaking, completely unconsolable. “Wh-while you were outside... fighting them... they came inside. I tried to fight them, Edmond. I tried, but they were too strong. They overpowered me, threw me down to the ground. They grabbed Edward and jumped out the window on the other side of the house!”
“Damn!” shouted Sweeter.
“A distraction,” said Hero, “the ones we fought were just... a distraction.”
“Exactly,” said Sweeter. “And now they have my son!”
***
On a TV screen, Judy Kang, reporter for the Promethean City Broadcasting System (PCBS), spoke. Below her were the words, “New MBL—heroes or terrorists?”
“Thunder City, the City of Hope. That’s what our fair city to the north has been called since the Hope Foundation helped to rebuild Thunder City five years ago, transforming it from an average American city into the futuristic wonderland it is today. Thunder City is unique in its progressive outlook and its open arms policy toward metahumans, particularly the team of heroes known as the New MBL.
“Today, however, the city is divided between those who still support the New MBL and those who distrust that team and want it shut down. Here’s the word on the street.”
On the screen flashed in quick succession several passers-by, each with his or her opinion.
“The New MBL? Better than the old one, I guess.”
“I don’t know much about them, but I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.”
“They’re a bunch of terrorists! Look at what they did to the Thunder Museum!”
“The army says they’re terrorists? Ah, they’re full of bleep.”
“No, I don’t believe they’re behind the attack on the museum—it wouldn’t be the first time the government’s lied to us about metahumans.”
“They saved my family from Godzilla. They’ll always be my heroes.”
“All of ’em should be arrested. Every one of ’em.”
The screen flashed back to Judy Kang.
“And there you have it. Opinion remains divided on the New MBL. Despite their heroic actions, they can’t seem to shake the label of terrorism, especially after the explosion that destroyed the Thunder Museum was blamed on them. We will keep you informed of current events. This is Judy Kang for PCBS News.”
The screen flashed off.
“Well, PCBS seems to have a more enlightened view of metas than our own TCBC does,” said Adam Hope, President of the charitable Hope Foundation. “Rachel, I’d like you to speak with Buzz Randall. He needs to back off from the New MBL a bit.”
“As you wish, my love,” Rachel Hope replied, smiling. She was beautiful and blonde, with a wide smile, and she dressed conservatively in a dark gray tailored suit.
He stood up from the leather couch in his office, located on the penthouse suite of the Hope Building, the tallest skyscraper in Thunder City. Adam Hope was a tall, slender man with broad shoulders around 40 years of age, who had dark hair, slightly graying around his temples. He was very handsome, with a youthful face that looked slightly older only because of his glasses. Although he was the wealthiest man in Thunder City, he dressed casually in blue jeans and wore an off-white button-down shirt left untucked.
“I don’t know what I would do without you,” said Adam, embracing Rachel, pulling her close to him. He then withdrew somewhat and kissed her fully on the lips. “You give me the strength to carry on. I love you.”
Rachel kept smiling. “I love you, too.” She gazed up into his eyes for a moment, then broke away. “Oh, and I almost forgot. The Hope Foundation Children’s Hospital wants to hold a banquet in your honor, as the founder and the primary contributor.” She paused for a moment. “Adam, I’m so proud of you.”
“Be proud of yourself, Rachel. You were there every step of the way. If I’d had to do it all alone, I... well, I don’t know what I would have done.” Adam embraced his wife once more.
“Don't stay up too long, baby,” said Rachel. “I'll wait for you in the bedroom.” At that, she left.
Adam returned to his desk, pulling up his files on the New MBL. This team had intrigued him since they first arrived on the scene more than three months ago. Already General Forrest, with all his clout in the U.S. Army and his friends in the White House, was on the offensive. If Adam kept out of it, Forrest could very well bring the New MBL up on charges. They needed assistance. They needed a sponsor. They needed hope. And Adam Hope was the only one who could give it to them.
***
Elsewhere in Thunder City, in a room above Madame Rossetti Florists, a girl stared unblinking at the television screen, her vivid green eyes reflecting the glow of Judy Kang on PCBS News. She fondled a small potted fern in her hands and whispered quietly to herself, “Heroes.”
The girl wore a pair of white shorts and a pink tanktop with a pale blue one layered underneath, having been given some clothes by her new friends. She looked like almost any other blonde girl around 13 years old, except for the fact that her skin was completely green.
She had stopped listening to the television by this point, completely enraptured at the thought of meeting others who could do special things. It had taken her months to realize that no one else around her could do the things she could do. But the heroes on the TV, the New MBL, could also do special things that no one else could do.
Audrey decided to meet them, fleeing out into the night.
